


Natural Born Killers

by Ballofstring66



Category: Arthurian - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - Fandom, morgan le fay - Fandom, movies - Fandom, thanos - Fandom, tom hiddleton
Genre: Adventure, Arthurian, Blood, Dragons, Excalibur, F/M, Fantasy, Fighting, Gore, Infinity Stones, Loki - Freeform, Marvel - Freeform, Sex, Sexual Content, Spanking, Swearing, Swords, Thor - Freeform, Violence, Witches, adult, explicit - Freeform, morgan le fay - Freeform, sorcery, thanos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:47:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 13,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5054605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ballofstring66/pseuds/Ballofstring66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pursued by an agent of Thanos, Loki has no intention of being re-captured and returned to the Mad Titan. </p><p>Set after Thor and before The Avengers</p><p> </p><p>The first in the Morgan/Loki stories<br/> <br/>BE WARNED that there are images and gifs in some chapters which may contain nudity -</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"I see you."

His mouth was pressed so close to her skin that she could feel his lips move and his breath flutter, cool against her neck. The flesh of their cheeks stuck together with sweat as he whispered those intimate, private words that no one else could hear and she wondered what he meant, what his intention was.

Morgan dug her shoulder blades into the unforgiving ground where they lay, trying to find some means of escape but his thighs forced hers wide apart and every lungful of air that he drew pushed his hips into the soft flesh of her belly. That last eliciting a small, involuntary sound from her as she struggled beneath his crushing weight.

She was in trouble and she knew it; the tip of his delicate, silver blade pricked the skin over her heart and she opened her mouth to retaliate somehow before it penetrated her and took her life away - but the death stroke never came.

"Witch." It was whispered as if he were sharing a secret, hinting at something else that she couldn't lay her finger on but it shut her mouth and set her mind racing.

How could he know?

"Who sent you?" He continued, his voice now smooth and seductive, enticing her to spill the information he wanted and Morgan almost smiled at his artistry. His grip played against her throat as if he were fingering the keys of a piano but there was steel beneath the maestro's touch and his thumb dug viciously into her windpipe.

Caramel eyes flicked briefly to her sword, lying too far away to help her, and she weighed up her options. An opportunist and a mercenary, her skills had been bought and she would just as easily sell them to a higher bidder and at this very moment, the raven haired Asgardian lying on top of her seemed to have the most to offer.

"And if I tell you...?" she rasped against the cruel press of his thumb.

"You bargain for your life? " 

"Wouldn't you?" 

"You have little to bargain with."

"I have the name of the being that wants you dead - and I have the location of an infinity stone that could be yours for the taking..." His body tensed at that and she knew she had hit the mark.

"I could offer to kill you unless you tell me.."

She believed that he was more than capable of it, but nonetheless - that undertone was still there - that subtle inflection that told her she was not lost, not yet.

"You could, " she chanced, "but you're not going to or you would have done it by now. Let me go and I will lead you to all the power you ever dreamed of." Morgan coughed, the effort of speaking against his grip bruising her throat.

He paused for only a moment - as if he'd made up his mind long before - and then mercifully she was free, his weight lifting from her as he rose in a single, graceful movement to his feet, making a point of picking up her sword as he did so.

"Who sent you?" he asked again though the seductive warmth had been replaced by a sharp insistence and a cold, green stare.

Morgan pushed herself up on an elbow, rubbing at the livid spot on her throat where he'd held her.

"Thanos," she told him and braced herself.

 

   

 

    

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 7/4/2016 - because what writer is ever happy?


	2. Chapter 2

Whatever she'd expected, it wasn't the rich, deep laughter that rumbled from his chest. The Mad Titan's name tended to invoke quite extreme reactions in her experience but Loki - Son of Odin as he had been named to her - just looked down at her with a wide, shark's grin and gestured at her with her own sword.

"Oh but this is quite the honour." He had an unnerving way of sounding like he knew far more than he let on. "The Titan sends one of his daughters to take my life? I must have sorely tested his patience..." his tongue darted out to run across cracked and dry lips and Morgan noted the glint of something very dangerous in his eyes.

"Well now, there you have me all wrong. " It felt good to have even this small advantage of knowing something he didn't and she sat forward, forearms resting across her knees as she peered up at him, one eye squinting shut at the bright sunlight. "I'm most certainly _not_ one of his daughters!"

"Then who are you? Did you _volunteer_ for the task? " His exaggerated interest dripped with heavy sarcasm. "Perhaps I have wronged you in the past and you took the opportunity to seek revenge?

What was it? Did I kill your parents? Perhaps I took your virginity? Though if it is the latter, it must have been sometime ago. Forgive me..." he let out a lascivious chuckle, his eyes raking over her body, "...but you do not have the air of a recently ruined maiden..."

"Fuck you."

"Eloquent."

"With nobs on. I was paid. Thanos clearly felt a hired killer was good enough for you..." She was well aware that she'd pretty much insulted herself as well there but Loki had a way of making her feel like an inarticulate idiot. As it happened the price on Loki's head had been particularly handsome but he certainly didn't need to know that.

"Clearly he was wrong," he tilted his head in an annoyingly patronising fashion, " and you have failed your purchaser by some margin. Will you be offering a refund or have we uncovered your motives for trying to tempt me with an infinity stone? I doubt Thanos will be too pleased to have lost his money."

She resisted the urge to swear at him again. "If you're not interested..." she shrugged, her palms up in a pretence of nonchalance.

"Do not play games with me! You live only because I allow it and I may kill you yet, witch. Or throw you back to the Mad Titan, which would you prefer?"

His change of mood was rapid and disconcerting, she flinched at his barb but prudently kept her mouth shut this time.

_Pick your battles._

"Good."

That damn shark's grin again, this time with even less warmth if that were possible.

"Then you will rise and divest yourself of what information you have." The low chuckle held nothing but menace and Morgan mentally kicked herself for having got herself in to this mess.

Loki licked his lips again and cocked an elegant eyebrow. " The truth shall set you free."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 7/4/2016 - because I can't help tweaking it


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry chapters are short, I write what little I can when I can but I get interrupted a lot.

"It's Morgan. In case you were wondering, you know, if we're going to be going on an adventure together and everything..."

"What?" He didn't even bother to turn around and her view remained that of his leather clad back as they marched through the bustling city. 

The witch jiggled her bound wrists and squinted down at them, making another attempt at deciphering the runes that decorated them. "My name," she explained idly, still staring at the cuffs. He'd refused to to tell her where he'd got them from - he'd refused to tell her anything at all in fact yet she continued to needle at him. It was a small pleasure but it helped pass the time on what had been a very long walk.  
"My name is Morgan. I thought you'd like to know."

"Delightful. I'll make sure it's clearly written on your gravestone."

"You're a cock, you know that, right?"

"Your wit continues to dazzle. I feel the cut of it's rapier like sting however, I must end this duel of words and turn my attentions to securing us passage across the water." He gave her a brief, diamond hard glance before leading them both into a ramshackle office on the docks.

The hut stank of rotting seaweed and the squat, pudgy clerk at the desk smelled little better. He lifted his head and chewed thoughtfully on his lump of tobacco as bloodshot eyes scanned his unlikely looking visitors.

"I understand that you have a ship sailing for the main port?" Loki's voice was clipped, dry and clearly in no mood for idle chat or small talk. Morgan, however, had noted the way the clerk's eyes lingered over her breasts and came to rest on her cuffs and she took the opportunity to amuse herself further.

"We're just married," she explained before he'd had chance to respond to Loki's enquiry.

"Congratulations," came the rasped, disinterested reply.

"These are just a bit of roleplay," she jangled her cuffs at him and flirted from beneath heavy lashes, "my husband's very kinky..." she grinned and latched onto Loki's arm in the manner of an excited bride, her adoring gaze turned up towards his face where she noted, with some satisfaction, the twitching muscle in her captor's cheek.

"Passage for two," he refused to look at her and lay a bag of coin on the desk. "To leave as soon as possible, I take it that is acceptable?"

"For that I'll make sure you get the honeymoon suite," the man hefted the bag in his palm and grunted, leering at the witch, "looks like you'll need it. Look for The Astra, she's moored near the end of the quay. She sails at dawn but you can board tonight. Try not to make too much noise, it upsets the captain."

"Are you angry with me, husband?" She asked innocently as they turned to leave. "Should I not have told the kind gentleman about your - uh - proclivities?" Loki's stony silence only egged her on more. "Will I need to be spanked? Oh please say I've earned a spanking.." she giggled coquettishly and blew a farewell kiss at her new friend who shook his head and palmed his crotch.


	4. Chapter 4

It would have been better if he'd just slapped her, or punched her or even stabbed her. All of that she was expecting and knew how to react to but she had no control over the burning rush of colour that flooded her cheeks as he settled himself on a barrel and slung her over his knee.

"Yes, my darling _wife_ , you have earned a spanking." He grinned down at her without any warmth at all as she twisted to glare back at him. Strong hands roughly forced her back in to position. "Stop struggling now, you know how you love this..."

"Don't you dare, dont you fucking  _dare_..." Every possible threat was packed in to that last word and she fully intended to carry out all of them when she got free - if she ever got free.

The first strike of his flat hand landed across her backside. It was hard, stinging and the yell of shock and surprise burst from her before she could bite it back but by the time the next blow came, she was ready. He was too strong to fight without her magic and her only retaliation now was silence.

He could punish her all he liked but she would not give him the satisfaction of crying out. 

And punish her he did, increasing the strength each time his hand came down, pausing briefly between each spank to see if she would beg him to stop but she would not. She gave him nothing, not a squeak and the lack of any reaction at all clearly rankled as his blows increased in intensity and frequency. 

The pain was nothing really, not compared to all that she had endured across the centuries but the humiliation was profound. An audience had gathered and as the silent power struggle between the witch and the god grew angrier, the crowd grew rowdier, egging Loki on to slap her harder. The catcalls gathered in momentum and inventiveness until the rabble were baying for her to be stripped and shared amongst them. 

It crossed her mind that he might throw her to the mob, she almost wished he would because even cuffed, she would cut through them like a knife through butter and their deaths would be a sweet outlet for her now blinding fury.

But he did not.

Instead his hand gripped the back of her collar beneath the tight knot of her hair and he pulled her roughly to her feet, spinning her to face the crowd like a puppet.

"Your entertainment is over for now, gentlemen. She is duly disciplined, yes?" Loki rose up behind her, challenging the crowd which yelled back a number of explicit and lewd responses. 

"It seems these gentlemen are offering to fuck you to ensure your good behaviour continues, what do you say to that?" 

It was a show she realised, maybe a warning to her as to what he _could_ do with her but he was also offering her an opportunity, however twisted,  to claw back a little self respect.

She took it.

"I'd say they should mind their manners, " she hissed quietly, "unless they'd all like to be relieved of their private parts."

"Gentlemen," he held a palm up in a gesture of helplessness, "she is a vicious, wanton creature and I suggest you heed her words. Her loyalty to her husband.." at this his arm curled possessively around her waist, "...is quite deadly."

"Give her to me then." A large, burly sailor stepped forwards, his eyes dark with lust. "I'll soon fuck the viciousness out of her."

The crowd cheered in approval and only Morgan heard the sigh and the question that her captor breathed next to her.

"Can you take him? " 

"Of course I can fucking take him," she growled under her breath.

"Be my guest..." Loki pushed her forwards, his words appearing to be for the eager sailor though she knew they were intended for her.

The sailor wasted no time and lunged for her but it was all was over in a second. He groaned where he had been felled, clutching at his groin with one hand while the other tried to force his fingers beneath the chain Morgan had wrapped around his neck. She twisted it in her fist, tightening it further and fully intending to choke the sailor to death.

"Come, wife. Let's not start our honeymoon with a murder..." Loki spoke softly and placed a light hand on her shoulder to draw her away. He seemed to realise that yet more force would escalate her anger beyond all control and his deliberate gentleness settled her boiling rage to something a little less dangerous. She let go of her victim, though not without some reluctance, landing one last kick in the groin for good measure.

With the prospect of any further entertainment looking slim and the assurance that any assault attempts might end very badly indeed, the mob dissipated and wandered back to wherever they had come from. Loki and Morgan made their way along the docks, looking for their ship in stony silence. 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

From his vantage point inside their small cabin, Loki was able to spend some time watching the woman without her knowledge. She hadn't spoken a word to him since the spanking, instead finding a nest amongst some tarpaulins where she leaned back against a barrel, legs stretched out in front of her as her gaze stretched out across the sea. And there she had stayed, obviously deep in thought.

She had intrigued him from the beginning, from the moment she had very nearly cut his head off with that great sword of hers. Quick and dangerous as she was it had taken all his wit and skill to bring her down and when he had, when she was pinned beneath his weight and his knife he had felt the strong pulse of the magic that burned inside her and by the Nine she was powerful! He wasn't willing to kill her and let that power bleed into the dust nor would he let it walk off into the sunset, he needed it. He needed to keep her by his side until he discovered how best he could take it from her or use it for his own ends, she could be crucial to his own survival if Thanos were determined in his pursuit of his most recent escapee. 

Daggers of tension shot through him as his thoughts drifted to the Mad Titan and he pushed them back in to the depths. The cuffs at least had proven useful. Once he'd broken free from them he'd only carried them with the thought of using them to raise capital but now he bound the witch's magic with them and was grateful for that at least, without them she would be impossible to contain.

He watched her through the grimy window; she shifted her position slightly, clearly easing the pain in her backside and a half smirk crept across his face. The spanking had been almost erotic to start with, she was beautiful and had a pleasing figure which could be appreciated even beneath the severe way her hair was scraped into a bun, the practical leather clothing and the heavy boots and it was none more evident than when she was stretched across his lap. Her stubbornness vexed him though, her blatant refusal to appease him with tears or cries of pain had roused his anger and any eroticism had receded as the game had become something far more brutal. 

Loki unconsciously ran a finger across his lips, his eyes thinning as he considered her fierceness. He recalled that sword of hers - her fury when he had spirited it away into a temporal hiding place had been boundless and a memory stirred in his subconscious though he couldn't quite bring it into focus. Reaching slender fingers into the air, the blade appeared, the hilt nestling in his palm and he drew it from its scabbard. It was at least four and a half feet long and extraordinarily heavy - alarmingly so considering the ease with which she had wielded it - as if it were no more than a rapier. It was also plain, almost too plain in the manner of something hiding it's true worth and he peered more closely at the runes that ran along its length.

The memory he had been reaching for began to swim in to focus. "Morgan," he murmured to himself and glanced back through the window at the woman. As princes of Asgard, both he and Thor had been required to study the culture of each of the nine realms and the bards would also often recount their tales in song. The words that were etched along the blade suddenly clicked in to place. He knew this sword and now he knew who its owner really was.


	6. Chapter 6

The ship creaked and rolled gently in the water as Loki's long strides ate up the deck bringing him to where she sat, her arms folded across across her chest as best they could be with the restrictions of the chain at her wrists.

"There is a chill coming off the water, it is time for you to come inside. I would not have you perish from the cold just yet." He held out a hand to her, his motives entirely selfish as he was keen to find out more about her.

The withering look she shot him would have frozen Hel itself. "What now? If you think you can abuse me any further then I warn you, I will tear your balls off with my teeth."

He didn't doubt it and he found her fierceness to be one of her more attractive traits.

"I can assure you that rape is of no interest to me, it is the recourse of the most base and dull minded of creatures. " He let his gaze range pointedly over her awkward sitting position. "You may find the bed more comfortable..."

"Why are you suddenly so concerned with my comfort, Loki?" She swung her legs around and rose gracefully to her feet, standing in front of him just close enough to be confrontational. "Given what I know of you it seems rather uncharacteristic..?"

"You know _nothing_ about me, witch, do not presume.." He responded quietly.

"I know you get off on spanking women," she smirked, "or did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"My sexual proclivities seem to be of great interest to you as you hardly seem able to talk about anything else. Is this love, Morgan? Have I stolen your heart?"

Their eyes burned into each other as they wrestled silently for power once again. After what seemed like minutes the witch finally, without response, turned away from him and headed towards the cabin. As he followed her he couldn't help but notice the interesting sway of her hips.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

"It's very small," Morgan's eyes scanned the room though it didn't take long. Furnished with a single bunk, a small cabinet that held a decanter of wine and some glasses and a chair by the window that looked out on the deck there was barely room for both of them.

"Shall I ask the captain to upgrade us to an en suite?" Loki offered with exaggerated grace. "Oh I forgot, this is the only cabin there is. Unless you'd like to bunk down with the crew...?"

"I think I preferred it when you weren't speaking to me," she sniped, giving him a vicious eyeballing.

"How is your backside?" he enquired politely, "would you like me to rub some unguent into it perhaps?"

"Do you have any unguents?"

"Not to hand."

"Then that's a question that doesn't need answering isn't it." The witch settled with some care on the bunk, suspicious of his intentions, though he'd seemed quite genuine in his disdain for rape she couldn't help but suspect an ulterior motive for his sudden interest. "What are your plans for tonight's sleeping arrangements?"

"I intend to sleep in the bunk."

"And what about me?"

"I care very little, to be honest. Sleep where you will though you will remain in this room." He gestured at the door with slender fingers and she heard the ancient lock click.

"I'd sooner sleep on the tarpaulin in the cold, why do you insist that I stay in here?"

"I am concerned that you may become crazed with sexual frustration and throw yourself overboard."

"Oh do shut up." She was learning that he seemed to become more loquacious when he was in a good mood and despite her earlier statement, she found him much more tolerable this way.

He shrugged and settled in the chair, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles as he poured himself some wine.

"Yes please," she held out a hand, her jutting chin daring him to deny her.

There was a long pause in which he seemed poised on the verge of real anger until one corner of his mouth curled upwards and he held the glass out with an inclination of his head. 

The wine was bitter, full of tannins but better than nothing at all and it might stop her stomach rumbling for a bit. 

"So tell me," he asked in a conversational tone as he sipped on his own,newly poured glass of the red liquid, "by what route does a Midgardian witch become an assassin for the Mad Titan?"

"How do you know that I'm from Midgard?" She used his term for her home world. 

"Morgan, daughter of Gorlois, I know who you are and what blade it is that you wield."

Morgan stilled at his use of her real name, he was even smarter than she'd been warned. Smart, educated and perceptive.

"Your world is far behind much of the universe, how did you come to travel the stars, to find yourself in Thanos service?" He continued, his manner easy and relaxed.

"What else does one do with eternity but look for new adventures?" Morgan's usually irreverent tone took on a more formal edge and her chin lifted a little as she circumvented his probing.

"Eternity? Are you immortal?"

"Something of the kind. Are you?"

"Asgardians die like anyone else, give or take a few thousand years." Asgardians did, Jotunn on the other hand... "But it seems that you no longer wish us to get better acquainted as you did much earlier, perhaps you were just over excited?"

"That was before you spanked me in public."

"I see, the humiliation still burns in your cheeks. Both upper and lower.."

"Oh you did _not_ just say that..?!"

His chuckle was low and rich and rumbled from his chest. "Come, find whatever place it is you wish to sleep. I am turning in." He slapped at her booted feet to make her stand. Rising himself, he divested himself of his outer garments until he was clad only in an undershirt and leather pants then took his place on the bunk to pull off his own boots. He was more slender than his clothing made him appear, his shoulders less wide Morgan noted, though he was still angular and had an athletic build. 

She settled on the floor as the more comfortable option than the chair and rested her back against the locked door, watching him settle his tall frame on the short bunk and closed his eyes, his hands behind his head.

"Sleep if you can," he advised without opening his eyes, "tomorrow will be a long day."


	8. Chapter 8

It was in the early, grey hours of the morning when she finally gave in and climbed on to the narrow bunk, the knots in her back and the bruises on her buttocks complaining at the movement after so many hours on the floor.

"Hey, are you awake?" She poked him in the back with her thumb, a little harder than was perhaps entirely necessary.

"Hmm?" He rolled on to his back and hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her against him with a persuasive insistence. "Have you given in to your feelings at last, witch?" He murmured, green eyes glittering up at her from beneath long black lashes.

In the gloom of the cabin with the cold at her back it was almost tempting. Despite her anger at him for yesterday's humiliation, he still had a charisma that was hard to resist. His fingers roamed sleepily over her curves and she had been so long on the move and away from any home comforts that it would be easy to slip into his embrace, to let him have her in this small bed and find what solace they could in the pleasures of the flesh.

She realised that her mind had wandered a little too far when she caught the wicked grin on his lips and his fingers under her shirt, grazing the swell of her breast.

"It seems I have, " she murmured, "my urges have overtaken me at last." She lowered her mouth until her lips brushed his as she spoke, 'My bladder is bursting so you need to unlock the door or I'm going to piss in your bed..."

"You tease me with such exotic language, madam," he breathed in return. She saw an eyebrow raise in amusement but her observation of him ended there when his hand came down in a slap against her still tender backside. She swore viciously and rolled out of his hold to drop neatly off the bed on to her feet.

"Animal," she cursed him.

"You have no idea," was his lascivious response as he sat up to pull on his boots. A twist of his slender fingers and the door unlocked behind her. "Go and relieve yourself as necessary, I will be right behind you."


	9. Chapter 9

Lavatorial facilities on the ship were little more than a hole in a board hanging out over the edge. It was much easier for Loki she noted as he followed her out and took up the position against the rail to undo his fly but she had to avail herself of the makeshift privy made even more tiresome by the leers of the crew on night duty. 

Once she'd finished she readjusted her clothing and rejoined her captor who was just zipping himself up again. 

"It would all be much easier if you'd take these cuffs off," she complained, snapping the chains at him. "It would draw less suspicion when we dock again as well," she added for good measure. "I'm sure you want to remain as discreet as possible?"

"As discreet as a warrior witch and an Asgardian can be, hmm? I will not remove the cuffs, They keep your power subdued and make my life infinitely easier for that," he shot her a sly grin. "But you are right, we should seek less conspicuous attire to travel in and I will, as you have been so well behaved, remove the chain. That should afford you the freedom you require, yes?" 

"Well that's something I suppose," she admitted begrudgingly and held her wrists up.

"Now?" 

"Yes! Of course now! Chain. Off. If nothing else it will allow me to punch you in the face next time you get the urge to feel me up."

"It burns doesn't it, admitting how much you enjoyed it? I can see why it makes you want to lash out, a woman like you prefers to be in control I'd imagine?" he grinned down at her as he fiddled with the chain, finally pulling it free and squirrelling it away with a flick of his fingers. 

"Don't kid yourself. For someone who professes no interest in rape, you are certainly very hands on." She stretched her arms out to the side, easing muscles that had been restricted with the chain on.

"Any brute or dullard can force himself on someone, where is the pleasure or challenge in that? On the other hand, convincing someone that they want you until they are begging to be taken - that is a far more complex game, don't you think?" His grin and his gaze never wavered.

"Is everything a game to you?" she deflected, her mind furiously questioning her responses over the past couple of days. Or was he just trying to make her think she was being manipulated, to make her doubt herself? A person could tie themselves in knots trying to analyse Loki's motives.

"The game is everything," he drawled.

"That's not an answer.."

"If you want the truth, witch, then you must learn to ask the right questions. This little trip will give you plenty of time to perfect that art. Providing you are not leading me on a wild goose chase of course?"

"The stone is real..."

"Then why not take it for yourself?"

"You know why."

"You doubt your own power to wield it."

"I don't need it, " she hissed, "I have no desire to rule the universe, freedom is the greater power."

"Yet you gave freedom up for blood money from Thanos. He owns you now, you are aware that a contract with him - no matter what kind - is indelible? You are as much a fugitive from him as I."

"He promised me he would send me home - that he would send me back across the galaxies to Earth. "

"And you double crossed him? " his eyebrows raised quizzically.

"No, I..." she bit it back, too late.

"You are leading me to him, yes? Leading me into a trap?"

She stared up into those hypnotic emerald eyes and realised that he'd known all along.

"Yes."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo sorry it took me so long to get back to this. My inspiration left me for a while but I hope to update more from now on. I know this is still quite short but I'm easing in. Let me know if you like it - it's encouraging to get feedback. Thanks for reading.

Loki arched an eyebrow, surprised at her honesty - he had not expected it.

"Why confess it now, hm? Why admit to the truth when I could just kill you and be done with this charade?" he studied her face, searching for answers.

"Because you went along with this even though you knew I was leading you into a trap and you're not going to kill me. You keep pointing out that you could but you keep on not doing it so you must want me for something, you must have a plan I just haven't worked out what it is yet. "

"And what's _your_ plan now, little witch? Now you _do_ intend to double cross the Titan? Are you so in love with me that want to save me from his tortures?" 

"I have no interest in you," she hissed in frustration, his glib manner beginning to grate more than normal - not least because she found it impossible to read. "Thanos can split you open and dance around in your entrails for all I care..." 

"Such a vivid imagination, I _like_ you," he murmured happily.

She ignored him, "...but you're right, I want to get away from him and I want to go home. I need the infinity stone for that and I need you to help me get it. So here's the deal, you help me steal it and send me home and you can have it to do with as you please. What do you say?"

"I say it's time for breakfast. I will consider your suggestion but we eat first, your stomach has been rumbling for a full ten minutes now and it is quite distracting." He needed time to think. In truth, it was clear both of them had been winging it up until this point though much of what she said made sense. Still, he was hungry and his mind worked better on a full stomach.

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got rather saucy. It didn't start out that way lol!

Morgan submerged herself up to her nostrils in the hot water, letting it's warmth seep in to her muscles and soothe the aches. The cuffs suppressed her fast healing as well as her ability to produce magic and she was feeling it. Two days of sleeping in corners on the cramped ship had taken its toll and the bruises on her backside were only just now turning yellow and fading.

Loki had yet to agree to her plan of taking the infinity stone. He hadn't said much at all since she'd confessed to the treachery he already suspected her of and his outrageous flirting had all but disappeared though the witch wouldn't put it past him to be manipulating her in some other way. 

She pursed her lips beneath the surface and blew a few thoughtful bubbles. She'd been around fifteen hundred years and she was no stranger to mind games though it wasn't part of her own modus operandi. She had a tendency to blunt honesty or silence and rarely had the energy to maintain a good lie but Loki was a master at it. Lies and half truths slipped from his lips with ease, all wrapped up with that package of good looks and a voice so smooth it didn't matter what he actually said, it went straight to her libido anyway. 

Her attraction to him made her furious and - even worse - the fact that it was so blatantly obvious to him made her want to punch him almost all of the time but still, she thought, she might indulge herself yet. She doubted that he'd complain or refuse if sex were offered and the physical release would be a relief after so long without. Plus the bonus would be the opportunity to inflict some pain in return for the spanking and that thought made her smile a broad smile beneath the water. 

As her mind wandered, pursuing all the possibilities that such an encounter might offer so her fingers moved down between her thighs and stoked her burning imagination as they moved in slow circles over her swollen clitoris. 

Her chin tilted upwards and a soft moan eased from her lips as they broke through the surface, whispering through the empty bathhouse. The witch hadn't realised just how badly she needed to come until now and her knees lifted high out of the water as her moans grew louder and breathier. 

Years of practise meant she knew exactly how to pleasure herself and it didn't take long. Her free hand braced palm flat against the bath behind her head and water cascaded from her arching body, her nipples flushed and hard as they were exposed to the air.

"Oh fuck.." she moaned, her words punctuated by the rythmic slapping of the water that was reaching its crescendo. "Fuck. Fuck! Loki...." his name slipped from her lips just as her whole body went taught and she came in a heated rush of profanities and hard breaths.

 

Deep in the shadows of a connecting archway, Loki bit down hard on his tongue to still his own cry as his cock jerked and throbbed, pumping hot, creamy come over his hand. He fell back against a tiled wall where he could no longer see her, stil stroking his erection slowly and waiting for the aftershocks to die away - permitting himself a wicked grin at the memory of how she'd called his name.


	12. Chapter 12

"'I've never seen anyone eat with quite so much..uh.. _vigour_ before."

It was truly impressive and Loki had had to put down his own utensils and watch.

Morgan's long hair had been finally let out of its severe bun and she'd pulled it over one shoulder to keep it out of the way as she ate. She was not inelegant, she did not trough the way Volstagg would - she just focused and devoured without any sign of slowing down or becoming full.

She was, in fact, on her third bowl of seafood noodles and Loki was mesmerised by her technique. The chopsticks danced nimbly in her fingers, gathering and twirling the golden strands into economic bundles that she transferred in swift movements to her mouth, chewing, swallowing and repeating the pattern in an unrushed, regular tempo.

Her eyes flicked up at his comment but she did not respond until the bowl was cleared and she finally leaned back in her chair, laying her chopsticks diagonally across the rim in the manner of local custom.

"I was hungry."

"Evidently..."

"What's this all in aid of anyway...the dress and the dinner?" She plucked at the silk gown and eyeballed him maliciously.

"The dinner because we need to eat and the dress - well, it does cling beautifully to your figure," he arched an eyebrow in approval, his gaze lingering on the outline of her nipples beneath the fabric before he raised it once again. 

"You know what I mean. Dinner could just as easily have been a bag of dumplings out on the street - you didn't need to dress me up and bring me to a restaurant."

"Perhaps I'm trying to seduce you?"

"Apparently you've been trying to do that since we met if I am to believe anything that comes out of your mouth..?"

"Is it working?"

"Are we fucking?"

"Hm..." He had to admit that, while he clearly had an effect on her - his memory returned briefly to the sight of her in the bath, naked, wet, and coming hard - translating that into an actual carnal tryst was proving harder. She clearly wanted him but she was obtuse and stubborn about giving in to that desire.

"We could be.." He wondered if mirroring her more direct approach might help.

"What makes you think I'd fuck you?"

"At the moment, nothing but I'd very much like to hear you call my name again - the way you did in the bathhouse earlier." His eyes glittered as he laid his cards on the table and waited for her reaction.

"You were _watching_...?"

Intriguingly, she did not appear at all embarrassed. He saw annoyance cross her eyes - probably because she'd not given him permission to watch - and, even more intriguingly, he saw her lips part and flush with colour.

"Yes," he responded, carefully keeping any hint of smugness out of his tone and expression. Plain honesty of this kind was out of his comfort zone but they were poised on the edge of something and his intuition told him that if he mocked her now, this woman would retreat beyond his reach. 

"Did you masturbate as you watched?" 

"Yes."

"Did you come?"

"Yes. Hard."

"What's going through your mind right now?"

"I'm wondering how wet your cunt is and whether you'll curse or just moan as I enter you. "

"Then we'd better get to our room so that you can find out."

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first part of this chapter was a bit of an experiment in style. Do you think it works? Too filthy? Can it ever be too filthy...? ;)

"I need you out of that dress..."

"Take it off me then."

"With pleasure..I'm glad to see that underwear doesn't figure in your wardrobe. Your breasts are really quite something ...so perky."

"Bite them. Uhhh yes - like that...just nnnggh like that..."

"Your nails are sharp."

"I'm surprised uh that you can feel them through all that unnhh ohhhh leather."

"I can feel them alright, you want to play rough, hmm?"

"Shut up and go down on me."

"What makes you think I'm going to let you give the orders?"

"I will tear out lumps of your hair if you don't."

"Open wide then.. good girl..."

"Uhhhh! Oh!! Fuck, yes! Oh, that tongue. Don't ... don't stop...why have you stopped?"

"On your knees."

"Fuck you."

"...ooff...that's quite a right hook you have there. Get. on. Your. Knees. "

"You wouldn't stand a chance without these cuffs."

"Well that's a game for another time. Now, what were you saying about tearing out lumps of hair?"

"Uhhh ..I'll make you pay for this.."

"No doubt but I've seen you fight and the truth is, you could resist much harder than you are doing. You like this - you just don't like admitting it because it makes you vulnerable."

"Bullshit."

"Well...we can stop or you can open that lovely mouth nice and wide and suck my cock, that's it...have a think about it....oh..good choice. How much can you take..?"

"Gluhh"

"Mmm.Suck hard. You look so pretty like that. Do you want it in your pussy? Yes? Say please then."

"Please..."

"Please what?"

"Please fuck me you son of a bitch."

"Turn around..hands and knees..spread. Wider. Come on don't make me spank you again... Wider...beautiful. Mmm."

"Damn you're .. you're so big ..uhhh."

"Norns. You want it harder?"

"Yes."

"Say it.."

"Harder! Fuck me harder!"

"I'm going to fuck you into the floor, witch."

 

 

 

 

Later, Loki snored lightly on the bed next to her as she idly picked splinters from her palms and watched the sun rise through the grimey window. The door, as far as she remembered, remained unlocked - by key or by magic - but she kept her gaze focused in the window.

She had intended to run.

Now that they were on shore she had intended to leave him sleeping - or knock him on the head - and find a metalsmith who could take the cuffs off but now that the opportunity presented itself, she found herself reluctant to make the move. The witch chewed thoughtfully at her lip and turned all the options over in her mind - or perhaps there were only two.  

Thanos was not one to be crossed - Loki was right in that respect - she would never be free either running from The Mad Titan or working for him and yet, Loki still had not agreed to her plan to take the infinity stone and destroy the shadow that hung over them both.

They were both hiding. Fucking eachother to avoid the inevitable. 

She rose up and leaned her elbows on the sill, observing the port and its people go about its early morning business.

"Sticky..."

His slender fingers moved between her thighs, exploring and penetrating.

"Entirely your doing," she murmured without looking round. Her hips rolled with his touch and she sensed, rather than heard him rise up behind her. 

His forearm curled around her ribs beneath her breasts, lifting her bodily and positioning her once again on her knees on the floor once where he used his own knees to shove her thighs apart. 

"More?" he murmured, his palm travelled in a sensual line along her back until he gripped her neck.

"Yes," she whispered as her cheek pressed into the cold boards. 

 

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

He grunted, eliciting another cry from her with one last, erratic thrust as he ejaculated deep inside. Unrelenting fingertips dug into her buttocks, holding her in place until they were both done and their sweat soaked skin stuck together with every, desperately drawn lungful of air. 

She let her head fall on to his shoulder and he noted with some surprise that she was trembling. Her hands rested lightly against the swell of his biceps and the way they fluttered felt as ethereal as a butterfly; she curled her fingers in to her palms slightly, perhaps to hide the shaking but her fists remained where they were, using him for support. 

Releasing his grip on her backside he hesitated, his hands hovering barely millimetres above her skin. He was suddenly and acutely aware of the way she was straddled across his thighs, of where his body entered hers and of the peacefulness that filled the air between them. It felt like the calm after the storm.  A fragile, unguarded intimacy that hadn't been present before, as if the two of them had pounded each other against the rocks so hard they'd finally shipwrecked themselves on the beach. 

There was a reverence to the way he placed his hands back on her skin. This time he slid them gently in opposite directions across her back, curving around her rib cage to hold her close. He was rewarded with the press of her breasts against his torso as she drew a sharp lungful of air and her caramel eyes opened to look up at his. 

 

 

 

"You _wanted_ to play rough," she growled up at him, one leg bent high against her body, her foot flat in the middle of his chest - keeping him at bay. 

" _During_ sex, yes..." He added an expressive arch of his eyebrows as punctuation and wiped the blood from his nose. "It was just a kiss..."

"Don't kiss me. " 

"You kissed me back."

"I'd just come for fucking England, I was out of my mind. I don't care just don't kiss me. Ever."

"Duly noted." Loki didn't pursue it. He pushed her foot away with a little more spite than was really necessary and climbed off the bed to investigate what was left in the food tray. The bread had been stale to begin with and the cheese already sweating but he put a slice of each together and ate it in two bites. 

"Do you want some?" He asked, deliberately not looking at her. He'd already layered two slices of bread and cheese for her without waiting for an answer - she had the appetite of a bilge snipe and their sexual athletics had only made it worse. He noted the pause that followed his question and the way her tone had softened when she finally responded.

"Yes. Please."

He handed her the plate with a cursory glance then turned his attentions to the wash bowl. They must have been holed up in that room for twenty-four hours now at least and both of them stank of sex and cheap wine. Another visit to the bathhouse would be welcome but for some reason he wasn't ready to break their self-imposed asylum so instead, he picked up the jug and filled the bowl.

The water was cool on the back of his neck and where it ran down his chest, spattering on to the bare floor by his feet. He soaked the cloth again before rinsing under his arms and down to his groin. When he was done, hemoust the cloth to one side and then turned to the witch - she was still sitting on the bed, her empty plate beside her, watching him curiously. 

"Come," he beckoned with an outstretched hand. "I know you're not afraid of me, come."

He actually had no idea if she would, and he suspected neither did she, until the moment when her foot stepped on to the floor beside the bed. 

There was a challenge in her face as she stood in front of him, as if she were daring him to mock her or maybe to try and kiss her again but he held his silence for now, spinning her around by her shoulders to face the other way. 

"What are you doing?" she asked eventually.

"Plaiting your hair to keep it out of the way."

"Plaiting..? What...?" 

"Keep facing the front," he tutted and turned her shoulders back where he wanted them.

"Where did you learn to plait?"

"Long hair has a cultural significance where I come from..."

"Asgard? What significance..."

"Yes Asgard. A warrior only cuts his hair if he is defeated in battle. Many of my ... many warriors would braid theirs for convenience."

"But not you?"

"No."

"So you braided your warriors hair for them?"

"No," he sighed deeply, " I used to braid Sif's hair. When we were small. "

"Who is Sif?" 

"You ask too many questions."

"Who is Sif?"

"I will answer on one condition...for every question you ask me you must answer one in return. Do you agree?"

She didn't pause as long as he thought she might.

"Okay. Who is Sif?"

"She grew up in court alongside my brother and I. She became a warrior eventually - unusual for an Asgardian female - but when we were young I would braid her hair."

"When did you stop?"

"That's not the deal - your turn to answer." He placed the plait over her left shoulder and took a clean cloth, soaking it in water before rinsing her neck as he had done his own.

"Ask then."

"The sword, your sword. Your Midgardian legends say it belonged to Arthur - how did it come to you? Lift your arms." 

"Arthur was just a pawn, manipulated by those who wanted power. Caliburn was granted to my father and then it was granted to me as his heir. - Hah- that tickles! -  I lost it for a while but then I got it back."

"It sounds like there is a lot more to that story?" He moved his attention to her other arm.

"Isn't there always? But it's my turn now. Were you in love with Sif?"

"Yes, for a while, when we were children. But she was - still is - in love with my brother.  Is that too cold?" His arms reached around her and squeezed water over her breasts, cupping each one as he washed underneath them.

"No, it feels nice."

"Why don't you want me to kiss you?" 

"That's unfair.."

"It was just a kiss."

"But it wasn't _just_ a kiss, was it?"

"Is that your question?"

"If it means you'll answer it, yes. I can wash my own vagina, thank you."

"No, it wasn't just a kiss. But I don't know what it was.. I've seen every part of you, close up and in glorious detail, how is this    a problem? And you didn't answer the question."

"I can't answer it - I don't know."

 

   

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay - so it might have been very early in the morning when I pressed the wrong button and posted the last chapter. Sorry it ended abruptly - I had more to write. Here's the rest of it.

"Perhaps you just don't want to admit it..?"

She heaved an exasperated sigh and turned around to face him. "What's your story, Loki, how did you end up running from Thanos? I need to know..."

"You owe me an answer."

"Alright, if you insist!" She snapped. "I don't trust you. I think all this is a manipulation - I think you're playing me and I'm not going to fall for that bullshit! Sex is one thing but I'm not going to let you lure me into believing..."

"Believing what?"

"Never mind. Your turn."

He pulled up the only chair in the room and sat down, green eyes meticulously observing and storing the set of her jaw and the flint hard stares that she sent his way. He watched her climb back on to the bed and tug the covers up around her shoulders. It was interesting how free  and unconcerned she had been with her nakedness until his last question which had prompted her to cover up. 

"I left Asgard," he started, "or rather Asgard no longer wanted me. I fought with my brother and he threw me into the abyss beneath the rainbow bridge. I fell into Thanos' territory and he did what he does to all he comes across - he assessed me for what use I could be to him and attempted to -ah - subvert me to his cause."

By the flicker in her eyes he could tell she knew exactly what that subversion would have involved and he was grateful not to have to relay any of the details. 

"I chose not to stay," he shrugged. "Like you, having Thanos as my overlord does not appeal greatly."

"The infinity stone, he wants you because you know it's workings?"

"Yes."

"You weren't tempted by that?"

"He would use it -and me- to his own ends, there would be no freedom under his rule, only death." Loki reflected privately on his own words. The infinity stone could offer all sorts of opportunities - perhaps it could even bring Asgard within his reach - but he would not give any of it to the Mad Titan. If he could only take the stone for himself...

"You sought to make a bargain? " He leaned forward, his forearms resting across his thighs. "Do you still offer the same terms?"

"Yes," she answered eventually and he felt her gaze burning in to him, trying to read him. "You can have the stone, I just want to go home."

"Then we have a deal."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter you will find one possible explanation of why Loki's slim, elegant eyebrows in Thor were replaced by manly bushy brows in The Avengers. ☺️

 

They would have to leave the room at some point. Loki stared up at the cobwebs in the beams as he lay with one arm tucked behind his head and wondered why they hadn't yet. Despite the deal they had struck and the tension that had subsequently seemed to ease between them, neither had made any move towards actually preparing to leave. Instead she'd let him spread her thighs and had come, pleasingly, beneath his tongue.

He licked his lips at the memory and his other hand cupped her breast - a comforting weight in his palm -  a little more closely. She lay with her back against his side, dark caramel hair spread over the pillow as she slept and he wondered about that too. He'd fucked her after she'd come. He'd manhandled her roughly and fucked her hard, the way he'd learned that she liked it over the last hours but there was a sense that both of them were still holding back. It had become very apparent that she liked to be used but she would never allow him to abuse her - she would not tolerate anything born of spite or anger or a desire to hurt her for its own sake and she seemed to know with unnerving accuracy when that was the case. 

He _was_ playing her of course, she had been right about that. That was his game, his default setting - to lure and seduce and wheedle out whatever it was he wanted with soft words and sweet lies but she had seen through all of that and she had slept with him anyway. That confused him and thrilled him all at the same time.

Exhaling a long breath he rolled on to his side so he was spooning her, his free hand running along her ribs and the curve of her waist. It was curious that someone who liked to fight as much as she did bore no scars at all. It was possible to heal with magic of course, he did it often but even magic left its marks - yet Morgan had none, her skin was smooth and flawless as if she'd been locked in an ivory tower all her life though he doubted very much that was the case.

 _What else is at work here?_ he wondered, his eyes following his hand as it travelled her body. _What kind of creature bears no trace at all of its years and why did she feel so..._

"Why is your skin so hot?" he murmured against her neck. "Humans are not normally this temperature."

"Because there's a devil inside me, an abomination, and it burns with all the fires of hell." 

She stirred, her body curving langorously to fit exactly against his, the timbre of her voice deep and gravelly with sleep or something else perhaps. 

"A devil? What kind of devil?" he whispered.  

"I'd show you, but I can't ..." the witch moved his hand and placed it over one of the metal cuffs that she still wore. He let his fingers slide around its intricate engravings and in a moment of impulse, he murmured a word in an ancient language causing the cuffs to snap open and slip from her wrists. 

He felt her stiffen then turn herself over to face him and he braced himself for whatever she might throw at him.

"Why?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know," he admitted, " Impulse?"

There was a long pause, her breath hot against his lips.

"I'm still not going to kiss you."

"I expected nothing less."

"But I'm thinking about it..."

 

 

 

 

 

"Sorry." Morgan finished buttoning her jacket and hurried down the track after Loki's disappearing form. His long strides ate up the ground and she had to move fast to catch up.

"They'll grow back," she added as she drew level. 

"No doubt."

"You _wanted_ to see it, I did warn you."

"You did indeed. "

"It's not that bad. You can't see the crispy bits unless you look hard as your hair is so dark and eyebrows are overrated in my opinion..." She tried not to grin but failed badly. 

He inhaled sharply through his nose and spun around to face her, his green eyes flashing with wounded pride and a thousand unspoken barbs and something else that she thought might actually be admiration. He opened his mouth but before he could speak, three figures stepped out of the surrounding woodland, crossbows raised and aimed at Loki and Morgan.

"Hands up!" The tallest of the three circled them slowly. He was as white skinned as anyone Morgan had ever seen, almost blue his skin was so translucent but despite his fragile looking skin his stocky muscular build suggested a fighter and one to be reckoned with. 

She exchanged glances with Loki and they both raised their hands, waiting for the right moment.

"I can't let you rob us in afraid," Loki smoothed as one of the wingmen moved up close to start searching him. "You can still leave. Just walk away - no harm done."

The leader had moved up closer to Morgan, his crossbow levelled between her eyes. "Oh we are going to rob you, then we are going to have your woman while you watch and then we are going to kill you both."

"Damn.." Loki sighed, "I really hoped we could manage this without bloodshed ..." Blisteringly fast, he whipped the crossbow out of the hand  of the man searching him, spun it and fired a bolt through his asasilants open mouth felling him on the spot. 

Morgan had been ready though it took the leader almost three seconds to react and fire his own bow but by then it was too late, she ploughed into him at waist level, toppling him off balance. He hadn't even hit the floor before she'd clambers spider-like up his body and snapped his neck. 

The witch rolled clear, her eyes thinning as the big albino twitched and emitted raw, snoring noises from his throat. She watched long enough to establish that it was just a death rattle and that he was getting up again then she rose and turned to focus on the third man who was now running at astounding speed and was already a long way down the road.

"He's all yours..." Loki grinned at her and she knew instantly what he was suggesting. 

Shrugging off as much of her clothing as she could she set out at a steady, unhurried run after the stray. A few strides on and there was a dry, inrush of air, her shape shimmered and the rest of her clothes split and fell in tatters to the floor. 

Loki didn't bother disguising the wonder that shone in his eyes as the great, black dragon took to the air for the second time that day. She flew low, skimming the ground as she closed on her quarry who glanced behind him once and screamed before ducking in to the wood. Folding her wings against her side she snaked through the trees after him and out of Loki's range of vision. There was another brief, high-pitched shout and then she reappeared once more and soared back to where her companion stood, landing lightly on human feet in front of him.

"Show off," he said softly, a smile lighting up his face. She was magnificent.

"If you've got it, flaunt it that's what...that's ...." The bolt had pierced her skull, it's tip bursting in a shower of blood through her right eye. He felt the hot, crimson, rain on his face and blinked but Loki's reactions had been honed to a fine point and the hidden, fourth bowman was already crumpling to the floor with Loki's dagger between his eyes. 

"...that's what..." Morgan followed suit, her mouth opening silently as her sentence was cut off and her knees folded beneath her. Catching her in his arms, Loki laid her gently on the floor, still scanning the horizon to see if there were anymore bandits  but if there were, none were forthcoming and his gaze dropped back to the body of the witch as he sat down heavily in the dust next to her.

 

 

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

 

Coming back was always a bitch. It was like being dragged naked through a tube of broken glass and it seemed to take a thousand years.

Every time. 

Better than the alternative she supposed, whenever she reflected on it which wasn't that often. It was, in fact, a subject she usually avoided with the help of copious amounts of alcohol and/or recreational drugs.

Her mouth opened and her body arched and strained as she hauled in that first agonising, lungful of air. It burned like hell fire and for the witch, that was no metaphor but she drew her second breath anyway - and a third - until the rythmn became familiar again and she could focus on where the rest of the pain was coming from.

"Welcome back."

It took a few moments to click, for her ravaged synapses to connect the velvet voice and the memories together.

"Loki?"

"Of course."

A billion questions scattered through her thoughts but right then she could only lock down one. "My head..hurts?"

"You were shot. An arrow through your eye."

"An arrow?" A hand came up and gingerly touched the ruined socket. It explored for a second or two before dropping back to her side as if the effort were exhausting.  "You pulled it out?"

"I did, though it was a little messy. Your eyeball came with it I'm afraid, what was left of it anyway."

"Nice. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"No I meant it, thanks. Really."

"I also meant it. You are most welcome."

"It makes a nice change. I normally have to do that sort of thing myself."

 Loki shifted his position in the corner of the barn, bringing a knee up to drape an arm across it. "How many times have you done this?" he asked quietly. Despite the throw-away flippancy that always peppered their conversation he could see how pale she was and her rapid, shallow breaths exposed the pain that her words tried to hide. Not dying was obviously a double edged sword.

"Lost count." She didn't want to talk about it anyway. "How does it look?"

"Honestly? Like minced pork but that's an improvement. You looked like road kill when I carried you in here."

"Here...? Where...?"

"Some out-building from a farm long gone. Are you warm enough?"

"Yes..." She realised that something heavy and smelling of leather covered most of her body and that it was keeping her very cosy. 

"If talking is an effort...?"

"No," she interrupted,"well...yes ...but it takes my mind off ... _it_."

"How long does _it_ take?" 

"Depends - how long has it been now?"

"You were dead for about twelve hours. You might feel a little grubby, I buried you before I worked it out but then I came back and dug you up again."

"Why?"

"I haven't finished with you yet, we haven't had nearly enough sex and I need you if we are going to take down The Mad Titan."

Perhaps it was the clarity that came with the early stages of regeneration but she seems to hear the misdirection in his word much more clearly.  There were still too many questions and it was difficult to figure out what to ask first.

"Is that what we're doing? Joining forces to take down Thanos?"

"That was your proposal and the plan as I understood it?"

"Yes, but I assumed you'd sell me down the river at some point and take an easy way out?"

"That was also an option."

"That's what _you_  planned isn't  it ?"

"Yes."

"But not now?"

"No."

"Why?"

"...sentiment?"

 

She passed out from the pain for a while and woke in the semi-gloom of dusk. Her head was much clearer and the stillness in the air told her she was alone in the barn. Her natural heat was also returning and she pushed whatever was covering her down a little and wriggled to a more upright position. The barn had clearly not been occupied in some time. A thick layer of dust covered some machinery in the corner and cobwebs hung in swags from the beams. The straw she was propped against smelled musty but was at least dry though another smell was filtering through to her and she salivated as it hit her senses.

"Good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" The barn door swung open and Loki had to stoop as he walked through.

"I'm ravenous, are you cooking chicken?"

"Pheasant, three big fat ones."

"That's very resourceful," she observed as he eased his tall frame down on to a bale next to her. 

"We hunted a lot on Asgard, it's a useful skill. Your eye is looking much less horrific though it's still not ...complete. I'll bring you some food in."

"I can get up, it's fine..." She made to move and realised that the warm leather covering was his own coat.

"No, stay where you are.  Rest." He stood and held up a palm, forbidding her to move.

"I'm not helpless, I've kept fighting with worse."

"Maybe, but today you don't have to fight. Rest, while you can, yes?"

"Loki.."

"Please, Morgan, I've never had to take care of anyone like this and I don't know how long my patience will stretch. There's no need for you to get up, I'll be back shortly."

The witch stared at his retreating back, the corner of her mouth curling up slightly in a small smile. The nuances and subtleties of his tone and body language were becoming as familiar to her as the notches on her sword - it wasn't so much that she could tell when he was lying as that she was able to spot the rare moments of truth and vulnerability when they showed through the facade.

Whatever was growing between them it was still fragile and tenuous but something _was_ growing. 

"Okay then, I'll wait here. Oh, Loki?"

"What?" He turned,  silhouetted in the doorway.

"Got any mash? Gravy? Maybe some peas...?"

 

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. Please ignore the gaping plot holes and contradictions, I know I am. :D
> 
> On the plus side I have a sequel to this story already taking form in my head. Do let me know if you might be interested?

"How does it look?" She cocked her head, her boots shuffling impatiently in the dust of the road as the breeze blew a strand of hair across her face. 

"It's white. Opaque. Can you see out of it?" His fingers lingered at her jaw as her lifted her face up and he thought briefly about brushing that lock of hair away and trying to kiss her if she'd let him - there was no guarantee she would, of course, and he couldn't help but find the inherent danger rather attractive. 

"Not yet but it shouldn't take much longer."

"Hm. Perhaps we should wait until you have full, binocular vision before we think about tackling the Titan?"

"How exactly do you plan on doing that? We haven't really discussed our approach have we and I think we're going to need a little more than just a positive attitude and charm?" Her boots shuffled again. He had a habit of invading her space, of being just that little bit closer than was necessary - a game move that had become habit, she thought, but disconcerting nonetheless. His fingertips were deliciously were cool against her skin as she watched his eyes flick down to her lips and back up to meet her gaze once more. 

"What was _your_ original plan, you were the one leading me into a trap?" He couldn't help the smile that flickered at the corner of his mouth.

"I had instructions to bring you to the city and meet a guy called Korath, beyond that, I had no idea what would happen but I suppose there'd be some sort of posse to bring you down and take you in. I doubt Thanos would come himself, he prefers  to hold court..." 

Loki sighed quietly, the opportune moment for kissing passing him by as he turned his thoughts to the problem at hand.  Reluctantly he let his hand drop back to his side. "Then if Thanos won't come to us..."

Her eyes widened as she realised what he meant. "You cannot be serious?" 

"We need that staff and the mind stone, without that, even you and I together couldn't beat the Titan. "

"So we get ourselves captured and Thanos just gives us his sceptre...?" The witch moved away and perched on a nearby rock, holding her palms face up in question.

"Perhaps. The Titan may be willing to form an alliance for an even greater prize and he doesn't know that you're a turncoat as yet..."

"I object to the word 'turn-coat'."

"...You can still deliver your end of the agreed bargain -me- without retribution and I think I have something to offer in return that will interest our friend greatly."

"Such as?"

"We'll talk about that later."

"Then how do we use the mind stone to bring him down once he has so obligingly given it to us...?"

"The stones all have different properties but they also all have one thing in common - they contain enough raw energy to obliterate a planet if controlled and directed correctly but it requires a vast amount of power to use them in that way. I'm not powerful enough alone," he admitted that reluctantly, "but with you..." Loki gave the witch a shrewd glance.

"What? Me what?"

"You have ...potential."

"Do I?" she asked in a dry voice, her eyes narrowed as she tried to read his expression. "In what way do I have potential?"

"You don't just have power within you, you draw from the forces around you, there are times when I feel it building inside you..." he shook his head, "what I could do with all that power yet you barely use it, why?"

The witch hesitated before she answered. He was shrewd and clever and when he looked at her it felt as if those green eyes were drilling right through her soul; he saw her clearly and that was not something to be taken for granted, or necessarily trusted, but she liked it ...she liked it a lot. 

"Because it...distorts judgement and perspective," she ventured finally.

His head tilted as he processed that and slender fingers picked unconsciously at the palm of his other hand. "Who's perspective? Yours? "

"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely," she shrugged, "Lord Acton was a wise man."

"You have regrets ...?"

"No," she corrected him, "no regrets, it's not in my nature. I am what I am and I've done what I've done but... that much power is like an addiction. An addiction controls _you_. I prefer to be _in_ control."

 _Except in the bedroom when you very much like to have someone wrestle control from you, but that's a line of conversation to pursue another day_. The thought flashed across his mind but he kept it to himself. 

"You made a choice then, to abstain?" he asked instead. 

"I was rather angry for a century or two and the world bore the brunt of that."

"You said you had no regrets...?"

"I don't but world domination has its own price, I didn't want to pay it."

"Is that why you have no desire for the mind stone? Because you fear the consequences?"

"Fear? No. Anticipate, yes. I am an agent of chaos, Loki, I bring nothing but destruction and death. The world, the _universe_ is not ready for that. Not yet." Morgan realised her fists were clenched, her jaw tight at the truth of her confession.

"You are magnificent, you were born to be a queen..."

"Of a world long gone." she sighed, consciously trying to release the tension in her body. "  I was...I spent half a millennia imprisoned in a rock and the world had changed beyond recognition when I finally got free yet I tore through it without mercy. I'll admit, I was probably a little insane but even in my madness I realised eventually that I didn't fit, that I didn't want to rule everything. Or destroy it.

That was over a thousand years ago, do you think it would be easier now...do you think they'd wonder at the majesty of the dragon and bow to it? No, they'd find a way to cage it, experiment on it, clone it to fight their wars..."

"You're frightened of being caged? When you have power enough to lay waste to the earth?"

"Been there, done that and there's no satisfaction in it. There's no end, no peace - there's always someone else who'll rise up against you and the more power you use, the stronger the hold it takes!"

 

"But together we would be invincible! Your power and mine, channelled through the stone - we could destroy the Titan, we could take whatever we wanted..." A vision of Asgard rose in his mind, of himself seated on the golden throne with the witch beside him...and then it faded until only her face remained in his mind and her words in his head ... _Peace? An end? Can there ever be an end_?

She shook her head, up until this moment he had projected himself as an erudite scoundrel but what she was seeing now was something more primitive and wild, a seething ambition not evident before.   

"I will help you take Thanos but that's it, then I'm out. Come with me, Loki. Forget whatever idea you have in your head of conquering worlds, forget the mind stone - we could be free." 

"Free? Yes, perhaps..."

His glassy smile told her everything that his words didn't; their paths had intersected at this brief, heady point of synchronicity but they were travelling in opposite directions.

 


	19. Chapter 19

 It ended as it had started - with a desperate, vicious struggle in the dirt only this time there was more at stake and this time she knew exactly what his intention was.

It had all gone wrong so impossibly quickly. All their carefully wrought schemes discovered and torn away until the two of them were exposed and vulnerable, like guilty servants dragged before their master - and then Thanos, in his salacious cruelty, had set them against each other because it amused him.  

There was no grace to their battle, no banter, no finesse, no elegant pas de deux between fighters relishing their skill - instead it was a feral and dirty scramble for dominance that employed everything and anything within their means. Knees and elbows inflicted brain shaking blows as teeth tore at skin and nails gouged into eye sockets yet they remained impossibly tangled together and unable - or unwilling -  to separate. 

...............

 _The Mad Titan watched the witch and the Asgardian with relish, his blood clearly up and his tongue snaking over his lips at the gladiatorial spectacle that filled his screen. It pleased him to see one destroy the other and how well they fought when they had no other choice. Kill or be killed - it was timeless and so very effective_.

................

Loki's chest was jammed hard against hers, trying to pin her with his sheer size and she could feel his muscles contracting with every hard grunt and breathless exhalation. Her boots scrambled for purchase and she suddenly found a hand free, using it to grab a fistful of raven hair even as she realised that he had released her only for his slender fingers to snake between them and search for one of his many hidden knives. 

Morgan, understanding the end was close, found a new reserve of strength and launched a ferocious onslaught in her blind desperation to protect the thing that mattered most to her now and she almost gained the upper hand - almost. 

Recoiling from the rain of blows, Loki nearly lost control of her and he felt his nose break as she landed a last, vicious punch before he regained the advantage again. A smile flickered across his lips and then his slender blade pricked her heart as it had once before but this time it did not stop. It pierced the leather of her jacket and sank into her flesh. Cold, unyielding and inevitable.

"Don't," she gasped, letting go of his hair to wrap around the hilt the knife - as if she could stop it. 

"It ends here for you, witch," he snarled, loudly enough for Thanos to hear

Morgan stared into Loki's eyes - his face was hard and bitter, all jarring angles and stretched, taught sinews but the softness that she found in the fathomless green depths was at once calming, painfully heartbreaking and only for her. It told her that it was okay, that he knew as well as she did that she couldn't save him no matter how hard she fought, there was no winner here - one of them had to die and the survivor would face endless horror and darkness at the hands of the Mad Titan.

Loki drove the knife deeper, nostrils flaring briefly with the effort of pushing the blade home. She coughed and blood filled the witch's mouth, a warm trickle as it spilled down her chin to run over her neck. His pelvis ground up against her with the effort and it stirred an odd kind of arousal that was nothing to do with sex but everything to do with desire and want and need - emotions that only grew stronger as the blade exited through her back and it's point jarred against the hard ground. 

Her free hand made its last move to clutch at his tunic, trying to hold on to him, perhaps in the useless hope that she could take him with her but it was all too late and he was ripped from her grasp by a dozen dark and nameless things that served the Titan and carried out of her sight.

The world faded to black and she felt herself dragged, pushed and falling into nothing until the stench of garbage invaded her nostrils and the last breath she took was filled with the taint of rotting and putrid flesh.

.......................

_"The witch's sword, master, what would you have done with it?"_

_Thanos inspected the great blade but it held no interest for one who sought to conquer the infinity stones._

_" Send it to The Collector, see what price it might fetch._ "

 

 

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a long while to write. I hope you like it? I hope the intention and meaning comes across.
> 
> If you want to find out what happens to them there is a sequel - Synergy.


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